Jimmy Haskel is the owner of a music store in Point Jervis, New York. His uncle, Charles J. "C.J." Haskel, hates music and has long wanted Jimmy to join him in his health food business. Jimmy agrees only after his music store fails. When Jimmy arrives in the big city, he meets Molly McCorkle, who welcomes him into her mother's boardinghouse. Horace Heidt's band practices there, adjacent to the Haskel factory. C.J. is infuriated and sends his assistant to stop the band. Jimmy throws a tomato at C.J.'s assistant, only to hit C.J. himself, which makes a good impression on the band and the McCorkles. They don't know Jimmy's true identity, and Molly McCorkle falls in love with him.
When Jimmy substitutes for C.J. on his radio program, Molly's kid brother and Horace find out who he is. They devise a scheme to persuade C.J. to take a vacation. In the meantime, Jimmy takes over the operation of the business and invites Heidt's band to play on the show. Molly learns Jimmy's identity, and in anger, she says on-air that the Haskel program will give away $1000 every week. To protect her from prosecution, Jimmy claims the idea is his. He then has to find a way to give away the cash; a federal investigator informs him that there are many legal restrictions that make every scheme Jimmy and his associates can think up illegal.
Jimmy finally comes up with a method just before the show airs. He gets a bunch of telephone books, and Molly steals a carnival wheel, which they bring into the radio studio. They randomly select first the telephone book, then the page in it, and finally the entry on the page to determine the winner. The giveaway is immensely popular, with advertisers clamoring to sign up. This reconciles the Haskels and McCorkles, paving the way for Jimmy and Molly to get married.
Pot o' Gold was radio's first big-money giveaway program, garnering huge ratings within four weeks of its 1939 debut. The program's success prompted production of the film. The premise of the radio program, created by Ed Byron, was that any person who picked up the telephone when host Horace Heidt called would automatically win $1000. Phone numbers were chosen by three spins on the Wheel of Fortune: (1) choice of phone directory, (2) page number and (3) the line on the page. The series ran on NBC from September 26, 1939 to December 23, 1941 and later a new show by the same name from October 2, 1946 to March 26, 1947 on ABC.
Paulette Goddard (dubbed by Vera Van) with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights - "Pete the Piper" (Written by Henry Russell)
James Stewart - "When Johnny Toots His Horn" (Written by Hy Heath and Fred Rose)
Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights - "A Knife, a Fork and a Spoon" (Written by Dave Franklin)
Larry Cotton with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights - "Do You Believe in Fairy Tales?" (Music by Vee Lawnhurst, lyrics by Mack David)
Paulette Goddard (dubbed by Vera Van) with Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights - "Broadway Caballero" (Written by Henry Russell)
Production and reception
Producer James Roosevelt had been working in the motion picture industry since January 1939, as an executive and consultant. He formed Globe Productions at the end of the year, and soon announced that the first Globe production would be Pot o' Gold.[3] While Pot o' Gold was in preparation, Roosevelt introduced a new concept: Soundies musical movies. These were three-minute musicals filmed especially for new coin-operated movie jukeboxes, and making their debut in September 1940. Many of the earliest Soundies films are very handsomely mounted, because they used many of the same sets, costumes, musicians, and dancers from Pot o' Gold, then in production.
When Pot o' Gold was released to theaters in April 1941, it was warmly received by trade critics. The general tone was that, although the story was unremarkable and formulaic, the film was a masterstroke of light entertainment. Motion Picture Herald reported: "Basic and proven ingredients artfully mixed and beaten to a light froth, with the final seasoning done exactly to a turn. The result is as satisfying as that achieved by a superb cook with ordinary kitchen ingredients.”[4] "The story as a whole is light and frothy," agreed Film Daily, "and the picture as a whole is good entertainment for any and all audiences."[5] The New York World-Telegram review called the film a “fast-moving comedy, abounding in tuneful numbers, speed, and good gags. It aspires to entertain and this it does with great success.” Boxoffice wrote: "Tailored for mass appeal, it should prove an impressively profitable exhibitor venture."
Because the film was produced independently — copyrighted by James Roosevelt personally and not owned or controlled by a studio — it became available for reissue in late 1943. Robert M. Savini of Astor Pictures bought the reissue rights from co-producer Henry Henigson[6] (Henigson acted for James Roosevelt, who was serving in the Marine Corps).[7] Savini retitled the film Jimmy Steps Out and released it to theaters in 1944. James Stewart was then away from the screen, serving in the Army, so Jimmy Steps Out became the only Stewart film on the wartime market and thus became a great success.
Like other independent ventures, the film came back to haunt the stars. Paulette Goddard and Horace Heidt had invested in the film's production and filed suit against producer Roosevelt for an accounting while Roosevelt was in the military. Because of the film's non-studio status it has been a TV perennial since 1948,[8] and was an early arrival to home video. James Stewart, despairing of the film's omnipresent availability, was ashamed of its overexposure and referred to Pot o' Gold as the worst picture he ever appeared in.[9]
Nine years later, Stewart did another movie about a big-money radio show, The Jackpot (1950).
Today's viewers may be surprised to see Art Carney in a small role. He was then a musician and comedian with the Horace Heidt orchestra, and Pot o' Gold was his only film credit for more than 20 years.
